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I really don’t care for Kayla Rogers.
‘Yes, that Thomas Moore.’ I can only imagine what stories she must’ve heard from Alice back before, well, before Vegas. Before lasagne and Lego and a nude photo exhibit. ‘I’m here to talk about the mess you handed Alice to fix.’ I look around the worn but serviceable restaurant. ‘All for this.’
‘Don’t judge me.’ She adopts more of that teenage attitude. ‘I did what I did for Mary.’ She gives me a once-over. ‘You can’t tell me that Mary isn’t happier now.’
I don’t return the favor. ‘Compared to eviction and shelters, yes, I suppose she is happier.’
Kayla flinches. Then, acting self-righteous, she tosses the napkin on the table. ‘What do you care, anyway? You’re just Alice’s boss.’
‘Yes, I am. And Alice is also good friends with my brother and sister-in-law. And seeing as they are out of town at the moment, I stepped in.’
‘Good for you then Richie Rich, but I have a job I need to get back to.’ She moves to stand.
‘Getting back to work isn’t one of your two choices.’ Having had enough of her unapologetic attitude, I let the menace in my voice give her pause.
She recovers by crossing her arms, as if she believes otherwise. ‘I guess you’re about to tell me what my choices are?’
I nod. ‘The first choice is waiting for the police to arrive.’
Her arms and mouth drop. ‘What for?’
‘Believe it or not, it’s illegal to abandon your child.’
She rolls her eyes. ‘It’s not like I left her on the side of the road like Alice’s parents did. I left Mary at a hospital.’
I swallow back the rage I feel on Alice’s behalf at Kayla’s casual comment about her past. ‘Child abandonment is child abandonment no matter where the abandonment takes place.’
Hers eyes shift to the exit sign at the back of the restaurant.
I lean back, wanting her to choose the first choice, but needing her to choose the second for Mary and Alice’s sake. ‘Or, you can sign over guardianship to Alice and make your abandonment legal, which will ensure Mary’s safety. If you do that, I’ll make sure you don’t get jail time.’
‘The second.’ She answers fast. ‘I choose the second.’
‘Good choice.’ I don’t even care what reasons she had, or what she went through. All I know if that she doesn’t want to be Mary’s mother, then she doesn’t deserve to be Mary’s mother.
I flag Mason, his cue to call my lawyer, waiting in his car outside.
Kayla continues to shred the napkin.
The Statue of Liberty cuckoo clock on the wall ticks away. When I see Mason lower his phone, I wonder how long this is going to take.
The drive from the office to the ferry took far longer than it should’ve with how skittish my lawyer is behind the wheel of his too-big-for-city-driving Bentley.
I never appreciated Brian more. I make a mental note to give my chauffer a raise.
‘Listen, I’m going to get fired if I don’t finish my shift.’ Kayla looks at her phone. ‘I’m off in an hour.’
‘No.’ I watch Henry hustle in with his briefcase from the safety of his car he parked three blocks down. I’ve waited long enough. Mary and Alice have waited long enough.
Kayla stands. ‘I need this job, okay?’ She looks more serious than she did about leaving her daughter. ‘I was lucky to get—’
‘I don’t care.’ I don’t even have to try to remove every ounce of emotion from my face to show her how much I sincerely don’t give one flying fuck about inconveniencing her.
From the way she swallows, it must translate.
Henry arrives at the table, briefcase with notary stamp inside clamoring on top of the table. ‘Give me a minute to get everything in order.’
I can feel a headache brewing between my eyes. ‘Why isn’t it already?’ All I heard on the ride was him rehashing the process of voluntary relinquishment of parental rights, as if studying before a test. Which, it probably was for him seeing as he usually just deals in business law.
